Northamptonshire on brink of County Championship promotion after win over Durham
Kent complete record 433-run thrashing of Yorkshire, Lancashire defeat Middlesex and Dom Sibley leads Warwickshire in superb chase
Thursday 19 September 2019 18:11, UK
Northamptonshire took just eight overs on the final morning to wrap up a 169-run victory over Durham and take a giant stride towards Division One of the Specsavers County Championship.
A fifth win of the season moves them second in the table with one game remaining and, with Sussex losing at Derbyshire, Northamptonshire will be promoted if Leicestershire can deny Glamorgan victory in Cardiff.
Even if Glamorgan win, Northamptonshire will only need four points from their final match at Bristol to be mathematically certain of a return to Division One for the first time since 2014. Defeat here for Durham ends their promotion hopes.
Ned Eckersley scored an unbeaten 67 from 134 balls but could not shield the tail from the second new ball. Brett Hutton removed Matt Salisbury lbw to complete his five-wicket haul before Ben Sanderson had Chris Rushworth caught to complete the win.
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Glamorgan kept their promotion hopes alive with a comprehensive 291-run win over Leicestershire at Sophia Gardens. Glamorgan vs Leics scorecard
Chasing an improbable 424 for victory, Leicestershire lost eight wickets either side of lunch on day four to be bowled out for 132.
There were two wickets apiece for Michael Hogan, Lukas Carey and Samit Patel, but off-spinner Andrew Salter was the standout as he took 3-6 in 10 overs for Glamorgan, who are 16 points behind third-placed Gloucestershire going into the final round of matches.
Having secured the title earlier in the match, Lancashire beat Middlesex by 104 runs before lifting the Division Two trophy at Old Trafford. Lancs vs Middlesex scorecard
Quick runs from Steven Croft (40) helped the hosts up to 347 in their second innings to set Middlesex 270 to win and the visitors were soon in trouble as they slipped to 3-3 inside four overs, Tom Bailey taking two in two balls on his way to figures of 5-41 in the second innings and 10-119 in the match.
Martin Andersson (83) hit his maiden first-class half-century in a sixth-wicket stand of 81 with James Harris (38) but when Bailey had the latter caught behind after tea, the end came quickly. Middlesex were all out for 165 with Andersson the last wicket to fall, bowled by Saqib Mahmood.
In Division One, Dom Sibley bolstered his chances of a call-up to the England squad for their tour of New Zealand with another century as Warwickshire chased down 271 in 55.4 overs to beat Nottinghamshire of the final day at Trent Bridge. Notts vs Warks scorecard
Having hit an unbeaten 215 in the first innings, Sibley made 109 and put on 146 with Will Rhodes (65) for the first wicket before falling with the visitors 54 runs short of their target. Michael Burgess (61no) got Warwickshire over the line though with 14 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, Joe Clarke (112) had hit his second century of the match as Notts posted 260 in their second innings, leaving the draw looking the most likely result. Sibley and Warwickshire were up to the task though and completed a brilliant chase.
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Kent bowled Yorkshire out for 117 in their second innings to complete a crushing 433-run win, the county's biggest ever victory in terms of runs in their first-class history, at Headingley. Yorks vs Kent scorecard
The hosts began the day on 44-6 but lost Tim Bresnan in the second over of the day as Darren Stevens, after a double hundred in Kent's first innings, completed his five-for.
Jonny Tattersall (41) and Matthew Fisher (7) added 35 for the eighth wicket before Harry Podmore dismissed the latter and two wickets for Daniel Bell-Drummond finished the job for the visitors, who move ahead of Yorkshire into fourth.
